The Queen’s Hall

Performances that entertain, amuse, provoke and surprise: Scotland’s Dunedin Consort is one of the world’s finest early music ensembles, its fleet, fresh music-making directed with exceptional vigour by harpsichordist and scholar John Butt. Bringing the Queen’s Hall series to a gloriously theatrical close, the Dunedin players and Butt offer a rare chance to experience the closest J S Bach ever came to opera, in two larger-than-life cantatas. Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde depicts a bitterly fought song contest between Apollo and Pan…

Fun for all the family is guaranteed in our interactive 45-minute concerts specifically devised for children which will include all the best tunes from Handel’s Messiah. You can even expect an appearance from Handel himself to introduce his most famous melodies…! No age restriction. Adults with tickets to the evening performance of Handel’s Messiah go free to this event.

It’s no surprise that Handel’s Messiah continues to draw audiences back year after year. Put simply, there is nothing quite like it. Although the Hallelujah chorus has become its best-known excerpt, Handel wrote every note to impress and astound his listeners. Its choruses are as grand as anything Handel ever composed, the solo writing profoundly moving, the drama powerful and compelling. Performed ‘the Dunedin way’ as Handel would have first heard it, with a small orchestra, a team of twelve…

So named because they were dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos contain some of the most sumptuous and virtuosic instrumental writing in all of his output. Each is composed for a different line-up, from the intimacy of concertos 3 and 6, composed for strings alone, to the bombastic splendour of Nos. 1 and 2, with their blazing trumpet and horns. Join us as we explore these astonishing instrumental jewels, presented in their entirety (in…